Our Troops At War Part 4

Evansvilles 163rd and Jaspers 151st are in the middle east taking the reigns from other soldiers and getting ready to do their jobs in Iraq. Many of those soldiers are females and Fox 7s Jason Claspell tells us how some local women are gearing up for war and how they prepare their families for a year long deployment. "Hi Brianna, I love you, miss you." Brianna is Corporal Jessica Ellingtons six year old daughter. While Jessicas daughter is home enjoying the comforts of Evansville, Jessica is surrounded by the harsh landscape of a desert war. But she says she knows exactly what she signed up for. "If your realistic, going into Iraq is going to be dangerous, whether your on the fob or running truck missions." "It makes me nervous, but any job in the military is dangerous." Specialist Domoniqua Upshaw says she always wanted to join the military. She says there are a lot of reasons why, but the main one now is providing for her five year old son. "Financially I think the military will help me get there and I would like to show my son great things." Every soldier leaves behind loved ones and every soldier has a story to tell. Sergent April James is a truck commander for convoy security and its her second mission with Evansvilles 163rd. She served in Afghanistan on her last tour. April says in the beginning one of her biggest challenges was working with the males, but now its a different army. "At first I think they were a little skeptical with us being able to be side by side with them in combat and now its like were just one of the guys, they dont really care anymore." "Everybodys stressed, your away from your family, people have so many things going on. You just have to adjust and be able to empathize with each other until you can get back home where you really want to be." And even though its the beginning of her tour, Jessica says she counts the days when she can come home to the family and home she fights to protect.